Unexpected Identity – 1

“A-ahem. I was truly, immensely rude. I am sorry, Captain-nim of the Black Night Knights.”

The Lady of this place, who introduced herself as ‘Cassandra’, was sitting on the sofa, her ears flushed bright red, as if deeply embarrassed by what had just happened.

Helga’s gaze, looking at Cassandra, was pure pity itself. I probably had a similar expression.

It’s true that it was my fault for speaking ambiguously and causing a misunderstanding, but it was she who grandly self-destructed by asking if I wanted her body.

“So, the conditions you put in the letter are-“

Flinch. As soon as I mentioned the word ‘letter’, Cassandra’s body trembled. Seeing the absurdity in the gazes directed at her, perhaps embarrassed by her own guilty conscience, she cleared her throat again.

“……Is all of that true?”

“Ahem, ahem, ahem. Yes, that’s right. I will transfer ownership of all the spoils and byproducts from the Rune Dungeon, and the rune will also be included in the list of those spoils and byproducts. Furthermore, if you wish, I will provide additional compensation. In return, I would like you to keep silent about the Rune Dungeon so that the truth does not leak out.”

“I understand. I’ll do that.”

I gave my consent without much thought. Cassandra’s eyes widened.

“A-are you really doing it? So easily?”

“There’s no particular reason to refuse, isn’t there?”

“If I may be so bold, you know that this is an act of deceiving His Majesty the Emperor, don’t you?”

“Of course I know. It’s a conclusion I reached after fully considering even that point.”

The runes obtainable here were quite excellent in performance. While they might not be usable until the end of the game, in the current situation where I have almost no runes, they were more than enough to use and replace later.

Kaikilia wouldn’t kill me just for getting some runes, so the return was certain compared to the risk. There was no reason to refuse.

“I understand. In that case, do you perhaps need any additional compensation or reward? If there’s anything you wish for, I will grant it.”

“…….”

As my eyes narrowed slightly while I thought of demands, Cassandra hastily added.

“I-I’m not talking about my body! I was asking if you needed material compensation!”

“I know. Because I was thinking about whether there was anything to demand.”

Cassandra, who heard my reply, was momentarily blank, then her face flushed bright red again as she tightly clutched the hem of her dress.

I don’t know what’s in her head that she keeps thinking such things. In an atmosphere where she was half-convinced I was after her body, seeing her act like that, it seemed she would actually accept it even if I asked for her body.

Of course, I had no such intention whatsoever.

“Captain-nim.”

Leaving Cassandra, who was flustered and embarrassed by shame, Helga’s hand pulled my ear. A quiet whisper came from beside my ear.

“Why?”

“Is it really okay not to report this incident to His Majesty the Emperor?”

“It’s okay. Even if we get caught, what’s the worst that could happen? Die?”

“…….”

Perhaps thinking it was an irresponsible answer, Helga’s expression became a little displeased.

From my perspective, I’m doing this because I’m certain Kaikilia won’t kill us, but Helga doesn’t know the inside story.

At most, she’d just think I’m favored enough to be given the Golden Twilight Knights outright. It was natural for her to feel it was an irresponsible answer.

Even so, I couldn’t explain why Kaikilia showed such immense interest in me. If I were to explain that, I would inevitably have to reveal what I’m hiding.

“And, I’ve already done the same thing before. Can’t someone who’s done it once do it twice?”

I showed her the rune tattoo engraved on the back of my left hand. Helga’s eyes widened slightly when she saw the rune tattoo.

If even the Silver Dawn Knights, who maintained their loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor for years after being exiled to the frontier, would hand over runes to me, then that rule was as good as dead.

What’s the point of having a rule that runes are state property and must be reported immediately upon discovery, when even the Silver Dawn Knights, who are second to none in loyalty, openly violate it?

It was practically meaningless in the Empire, let alone a Holy Nation. Even in the game, there were almost no cases where players were punished for being caught secretly taking runes.

Considering that, Cassandra’s trembling and worrying might even be abnormal.

“That’s a bit unexpected.”

“What did you think?”

“I thought His Majesty the Emperor had bestowed runes upon you along with us, the Captain-nim.”

It wasn’t entirely wrong to say he gave runes.

If you complete all the sub-quests ordered by the Emperor, he gifts you a rune as a token of loyalty. The only problem is that the rune is practically useless in combat, serving no purpose other than for achievement hunting.

“Th-then……”

As Cassandra’s words were heard, Helga’s lips moved away. As if her embarrassment had somewhat subsided, Cassandra was continuously fanning herself with her hand. Her cheeks were still red.

“Would you like to rest from your journey at the mansion before departing? Or would you prefer to rest after the subjugation?”

“We plan to depart immediately.”

We left the kids in the forest, so we can’t just rest by ourselves.

“Kih-hee-heet, you’re here?”

As we entered the forest, Nix, the one who speaks informally, greeted us with a strange laugh. It seemed her personality had switched in the meantime.

Indeed, I don’t know what kind of ratio she usually maintains, but ever since she switched to the formal-speaking Nix in the city, the formal-speaking one had always been out. It felt like it was about time for a switch.

“There don’t seem to be any signs of a fight… Good. You did well.”

I instinctively stroked her head, just as I had done for the formal-speaking Nix, but then I stopped my hand, realizing my mistake. Then, conversely, Nix grabbed my wrist as if asking why I stopped, and rubbed it vigorously against her head.

Helga, who had been staring blankly at Nix, who was practically rubbing my hand all over her entire face, not just her head, casually threw out a remark.

“Are Captain-nim Rije and the Lady-nim not enough for you?”

“Helga, you really don’t hold back your words, do you?”

Unlike her sloppy and lazy actions or appearance, she seemed far from the type to keep her thoughts to herself. I’ve felt this for a long time, but she had almost no filter in her speech.

I stroked her for a bit then took my hand away, and Nix smiled sinisterly and took her place right behind me.

Standing in front of the Rune Dungeon entrance, I drew my Wingless Nightmare. Following that, the metallic sounds of weapons being drawn echoed one after another.

“You remember what I said, right?”

“Yes. You said that Captain-nim would handle the one guarding the rune, and that we should prevent others from approaching from outside.”

Helga, holding a longsword with a silvery gleam in her hand, said casually. Even though she spoke indifferently, she had grasped the core point precisely.

“Good. We’re going in.”

I stepped inside the Rune Dungeon. Nix entered second, the regular members were in the middle, and Helga was last. The interior of the dungeon strongly gave the impression of being roughly carved out of bedrock.

I walked calmly, and the knights, though puzzled that I wasn’t even wary of my surroundings, hastily followed me. That’s because no enemies appear here anyway.

We hadn’t walked much, when suddenly the path widened significantly, and a large cavern appeared. Circular holes drilled everywhere and stalactites hanging profusely from the ceiling. An open cavern existing beyond the narrow path.

It was a place I had experienced before.

B-Dark 4, though only its map was large, was a game sufficient to be called an open world, unlike Parts 1 through 3 which primarily featured linear progression, and so naturally, the variety of bosses also increased.

Not only did they have to place bosses in each region, but they also had to feature bosses in the main story, include bosses in various dungeons, and significantly increase the number of mini-bosses.

Therefore, there were inevitably parts where dungeon structures were reused or boss appearances were presented as palette swaps. This dungeon was also a place that similarly reused the structure and boss appearance of other dungeons.

Specifically, the notoriously infuriating boss, the Rock Centipede.

‘Though it’s incomparable to the original.’

Very fortunately, the boss here didn’t need to perform as infuriating gimmicks as that one. That’s why, even though the dungeon and its appearance were almost entirely reused, it received less criticism.

This was because it was a boss that was defeated through standard combat, not by gimmicks. If they had copied the gimmicks entirely as well, it wouldn’t have ended with just criticism.

“These are…….”

Someone mumbled. It seemed they had seen armor, heavily dented and scratched, stained with blood and scattered here and there.

It wasn’t difficult to guess the fate that had befallen the owner of that armor.

“What will you do? Will you at least recover the armor?”

Helga’s question brought me back to my senses. Come to think of it, in the game, the armor just existed as background and couldn’t be picked up, but here, I could pick up the armor and take it back.

“Not right now, let’s recover it on the way out. For now, gather them in one place.”

“Yes.”

The knights moved busily, piling the armor in one corner. It was a woefully small amount considering that more than ten people had been sacrificed, but in fact, it was a miracle that even that much remained.

The centipedes here would have devoured them armor and all, so how could any traces remain? I knew this very well, as it was a death scene I had seen countless times in B-Dark 4.

“Everyone, prepare for battle.”

As soon as I stepped into the middle of the cavern, I gave the order. The knights gripped their weapons, looking tense. I advanced a little further in that state, and immediately, rustling sounds came from all directions.

“You remember what I said, right? I’m going down first. You guys deal with these guys and wait here.”

“I understand. Please go and come back.”

I left Nix, Helga, and the regular members behind and went down the sloping path. From behind, I heard the Kwa-kwang sound of centipedes bursting through the bedrock.

From here on, it’s a mid-game area, so even if I kill trash mobs, I’d get a decent amount of experience, but I skipped it because instead of repeating 1-on-1 battles by controlling aggro range, I’d be forced into multi-on-one combat.

Given B-Dark 4’s combat system, simultaneous combat with dozens of mediocre trash mobs is much harder than fighting one powerful boss.

Actually, I wanted to take Nix with me, but I gave up because there was a risk of me getting caught in Nix’s area-of-effect attacks. She said she couldn’t aim magic as precisely as Minerva.

I went further inside. Perhaps because it was a reuse of the Rock Centipede dungeon, its length was significantly shorter than the original dungeon. It didn’t take long to reach the boss room.

Now, just around the corner, the Rock Centipede’s degraded version and palette-swapped boss, the Stone Centipede, was waiting-

“What the, fuck?!”

As soon as I saw the boss inside, I blurted out a string of curses.

I usually don’t do this, but I was so surprised by what was in front of me that it came out reflexively. I truly never imagined something like that would appear here.

First, a blocky blue body came into view. The body was generally elongated, and the top was covered by a slightly curved, arched cover. Numerous wheels were attached to the bottom.

A chimney rose from the part connected to the blocky body, and the plate supporting the internal structure was red.

And the most important part, the face. It was grotesqueness itself. Round, enormous eyes occupying a quarter of its face, triangular eyebrows, a round hooked nose, nasolabial folds, and a strangely smiling mouth.

In the place where the Stone Centipede should clearly have been, there was a blue steam locomotive.

That damn little engine.